Circle of Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael

Borghese Palace, Rome (according to the 1810 sale catalogue below and Waagen, under Literature);
William Beckford (1760-1844), Fonthill, Wiltshire, England, by whom presumably acquired in Italy in 1780;
His sale, auction held on the premises, Harry Phillips, August 22, 1807, lot 620 (as Raphael: 'Raphael - Charity and Nymph, an undoubted original picture, by the immortal Raphael'), for 105 guineas to Walsh Porter;
His deceased sale, London, Christie's, April 14, 1810, lot 11 (as Raphael: 'Raphael - Charity with a pair of Infants, is represented as wearied with bearing her charge, relieving one arm by placing the child on her knee, while she supports her foot upon a stone. The countenance of the figure very sweet: the back-ground a romantic landscape; from the Borghese Palace'), for £105 to Féréol Bonnemaison;
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830);
His deceased sale, London, Christie's, May 15, 1830, lot 124 (as Raphael: 'Raffaelle - Charity. From the Borghese palace; an undoubted specimen of this great artist, on wood -- height 11 3/4 by 7 1/4; with the print'), for £234.3 to Henry Bone;
Joseph Neeld (1789-1856), Grittleton House, Wiltshire, by 1831;
Thence by descent to Captain L.W. Neeld, of Kelston Park and Grittleton House, Wiltshire;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, July 13, 1945, lot 29 (as Raphael: 'Raphael - Charity, on panel arched top, 11 3/4 in. by 7 1/4 in.').

London, British Institution, 1831, no. 26 (as Raphael, lent by Joseph Neeld).

G. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, Vol. II, London 1854, p. 244 (as Francesco Penni);
J.D. Passavant, Raffaello d'Urbino e il padre suo Giovanni Santi, Florence 1891, p. 43, no. 282 (as Penni);
A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, London 1914, vol. III, p. 994;
G. Bernini Pezzini, in G. Bernini Pezzini, S. Massari, & S. Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, Raphael Invenit, 1985, p. 265, under cat. no. 19.

Engraved:
By Antonio Cappellan in 1723 (in rectangular format).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel is un-reinforced on the reverse. It is curved from left to right and is slightly dirty and dull. There are restorations in the three figures which have not been particularly well applied. There are also numerous restorations in the lower sky, but within a good deal of the remainder of the picture, there are no restorations. Our advice would be to clean and accurately restore the painting to return better quality to the image.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The design of the figural group of Charity nursing two infants is based on a pen and ink drawing in the British Museum, London, which was at one time thought to be by Raphael, but has subsequently been given to an artist in his circle.¹  Konrad Oberhuber considered the drawing to be by Giovanni Francesco Penni, an attribution independently suggested for this painting by Gustav Waagen when he saw it hanging in the collection of Joseph Neeld in 1834. The drawing is indented for transfer and the design was indeed used by Raphael and his workshop for a scene inside the border of the Death of Anianas tapestry in the Vatican. The composition was copied and propagated by the Raphael workshop for the design appears in a more elaborated form, with the landscape background and bearded stone mask on the left, in an engraving by Antonio Cappellan.²  As noted by Passavant, the engraving was produced in 1723 for G. Hamilton's Schola Italica Picturae and reproduces a painting which was at that time in the Barberini collection in Rome. By 1803 the picture was in the William Beckford collection at Fonthill, Salisbury, and later in London, in the collection of Joseph Neeld (by whom it was lent to the British Institution in 1831). The painting apparently had a pendant showing Hope, also attributed to Penni, and both were said to have originated from the Borghese collections though this is not borne out by any mention of them in the inventories.

The panel was originally rectangular and was engraved as such in 1723. The arched top was cut sometime between 1830 (when sold from Sir Thomas Lawrence's collection, as rectangular with the corresponding print) and 1945 (when sold from L.W. Neeld's collection, and described as arched in the Christie's catalogue).

1. P. Pouncey & J. Gere, Italian Drawings in the British Museum. Raphael and His Circle, London 1962, vol. I, Appendix III, p. 177.
2. See G. Bernini Pezzini, under Literature, pp. 264-65, cat. no. 19, reproduced on p. 843, fig. 19.